The Chase Continues
by PrincessAlica
Summary: A drabble after the end of the series, because really isn't that where all new authors to a category begin...


_Disclaimer: I do not own Chasing Life or any of the characters. I make no profit from the writing and sharing of this. I simply enjoyed the show and feel like I need a little closure with the show ending like it did. I'm an established author in Gone With the Wind fics, but this is my first attempt at Chasing Life. I hope that you like this little story. Happy Reading!_

While she had planned on a honeymoon in Italy with her husband, she had been forbidden from going because of her fragile health. And then before she was well enough to consider the trip, Leo was gone. But he had been the one to tell her to live like she was really alive and not wait on tomorrow to live. He would have wanted her to go, wouldn't he? But that is what everyone says, that their loved one would want them too...

A life with no regrets… its hard to imagine that in the past year, I have been able to cross off all of the things that I had come to realize that I would regret if I had died , all 37 of them, but aside from those, what do I have to live for? I have lived life more since I was diagnosed with cancer than most people do in a lifetime. How can cancer make you live more? I guess because it took away the uncertainty of how long my life would be, and by numbering my days empowered me and made me live knowing that there might not be more than a few tomorrows. And I am a peace. If the cancer were to take over even tomorrow, then it would not have won, in fact it was cancer that really taught me to live, as awful as that might sound. But do I want to die? Of course not! I have people I love and things that I can do to live even more.

"April?" Beth's voice seemed to be coming from far away. "April, wake up!" Beth continued to shake her until finally sleep began to loosen its tight grasp on her. She blinked up at her friend, "What? Is it time for meds?" Her groggy response belying the months that she had spent in the hospital.

Beth bounced on the bed enthusiastically, "April, I just read something, and this might sound crazy, but I just read that there is a clinic in Germany that is successfully treating cancer without chemicals. They claim to be able to kill cancer, and I know that you've already been through so much, but it sounds so pleasant. They said its almost like a spa. And here we are already so close. We are within driving distance." Beth eyes sparkled vibrantly as she shared this news.

"I'll look into it ,but I don't want to be tied down to die alone even if the clinic does feel like a spa. If I'm going to die, I'm going to live on my own terms."

The fire was slowly extinguished in Beth's eyes, "April, you're scaring me. I don't want to lose you. I'm terrified that you won't be there when I get married and when I have this baby. I need my best friend." There was a pleading tone in her voice as April turned her face to meet Beth. "I can see how much you've been hurting since Leo died. I know you've been hurting, but please, if this works then you will have years ahead and …"

"I don't want to get my hopes up. I'm at peace." April countered softly.

"But isn't this like Leo? He'd had given up all hope even though there was the potential of a surgery that could save his life. Isn't it just the same?" She argued.

"It didn't matter in the long run, did it? He still died, right around the same time that they said that he would. He still died." she replied with a deep solemnity.

"But it was a better life than it would have been, wouldn't it. He had love. He had you. He wasn't suffering. He wasn't dealing the seizures or the inability to speak. He had a good life. He was happy. He wasn't hurting." Beth grabbed April's hands, "you're going to get sicker and sicker. You know that. I know that he still died. I know you are still grieving for him, but wouldn't he want you to fight. Wouldn't he want you to avoid the pain."

"But what if they are wrong? What if it doesn't work? What if I do just die slowly, painfully? Wouldn't it be easier just to accept it and live the days that I have fully." April pulled away from her friend.

"What if they were right?" Beth continued to press the subject. "Can't you at least look at the information? Something about blasting the body with high levels of oxygen. It won't hurt to look into it. Please, I want my child to know you. I want to grow old with you by my side." She walked to the sink to fill a glass of water for April.

Tears welled up in April's eyes. "That's not fair. You know that is what Leo and I were talking about the night before he died. You know that!' April tossed the duvet back on the bed, her body tense and coiled as though ready for a fight.

"I'm sorry, but don't you get that I don't want to lose you!"

"You don't know what you are asking of me?"

"I am asking you to fight to live. Fight to see your sister graduate from high school, to know your other sister better, to be an aunt to my baby. You've got a lot to live for. Just fight!"

"You don't know what its like. I am so tired of fighting. I've made peace. Just let me live on my own terms."

"I'm sorry April, but you don't know what it is like either. You lost your dad. And you lost Leo. But those losses were so sudden. Do you know what it is like to sit and watch the life slowly draining out of someone that you love. Do you know how it feels to pray every night that they will wake up the next morning? I know that this is hard on you. I'm not trying to say that it isn't hard on you, but we are terrified too - of losing you and we all just want to find a way to keep you here." Beth pulled April back on to the bed beside her and threw her arms around her. "Please stay."

Beth and April clung to each other, tears pouring from their faces. Perhaps there was still more life to chase, and sometimes it took the best friends in our lives show us what and how to fight.


End file.
